1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for managing system faults in a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) system, and more particularly, to a method for enabling system operators to easily detect the states of all the systems constituting the Home Location Register (HLR).
2. Description of the Related Art
The HLR in the CDMA system includes a plurality of systems for performing the subscribers' location registering function, which plays a very important role within the CDMA system. Therefore, if the HLR system fails to function normally, the CDMA system cannot function properly. Such a CDMA HLR system usually consists of a front end processor (FEP) 20 for dealing with No. 7 part 15, a back end processor (BEP) 30 for the subscribers' database management, and an operation and maintenance processor (OMP) 10. The FEP 20, BEP 30, and OMP 10 are connected with the local area network by means of a socket for communications, and the internal communications within the system are effected by means of an internal process communication (IPC) message queue.
In early days, such HLR system included self-diagnosing and self-fault detecting functions, whereby the information relating to system faults are displayed in a text mode on the screen only by means of system console. Therefore, the system operator can not find the correct fault locations. Such early problems were eliminated by introducing the graphics display technique capable of displaying faulty objects on the screen in a graphics mode so that the operator can identify the correct fault locations.
By displaying faulty objects in graphics figures on the HLR system, the programer can predetermine the specifications with respect to the hardware shape information about the system in order to proceed with the faults and configuration management for all the systems, thereby performing the hard coding for creating graphics files. That is, whenever a new board is added to the system, the hard coding must be performed again so that the operator can recognize the relevant information corresponding to the newly added board.
Further, the fault displaying method primarily employs the visual color-related warning method for the fault management, through which the warning color varies depending on the fault level. In addition, an audio warning is provided irrespective of fault levels. When new fault information is added, it is newly coded by means of a separate coding technique which individually codes each fault according to the corresponding fault message when the fault arises. The corresponding fault information can be individually processed, and when the fault information doesn't conform to the fault code, the fault process is terminated and the fault information is repeated.
Through the conventional system configuration and fault management method, the detailed information of the complicated system must be separately coded up to the system board's level. Accordingly, every time the configuration information of the system is changed, the programer must prepare new hard codes. In addition, when the boards fail to operate individually, the fault events must be separately processed with respect to each board. In some cases, such event processing is accompanied by a hard coding operation.
Therefore, when the conventional fault management system is applied to several sites, new hard coding operations must be performed with respect to each site, and the management of software versions must be accompanied. Furthermore, since the conventional method employs only visual warnings to express the fault states, additional problems arise if the system operator is not near the system, making it difficult for them to identify the correct state of the system. This results in difficulties in fault management and system operation. Another drawback of the conventional method is that when there is an inconsistency in the fault information, the fault processing is terminated and then the fault information is freshly repeated. This results in a deterioration of the reliability of the system.